A former Okotoks pet store owner will make his first appearance in Lethbridge Court, Monday, June 26 in regards to charges laid under the Animal Protection Act.

Tyler Marshall is the former owner of the Animal House in Okotoks. Roland Lines, SPCA Communications Manager, says on April 28, 2017, the SPCA laid two charges against him after a number of animals were seized from a property in Vulcan County.

"It was in regard to a large number of animals that we seized from a property near Milo on April 24, we seized, 131 dogs, 62 rabbits, 8 cats, and 3 tortoises that we took into protective custody."

Lines shares it was found that some animals were in distress, two dogs also developed Parvovirus symptoms, and were put down shortly after they were seized.

"Our officer attended with a search warrant, and veterinarian, and with the assistance of the veterinarian established which of the animals at the property were in distress, and needed to be moved into protective custody."

Marshall has also recently submitted an application to Vulcan County, to open a dog breeding facility with a capacity of 200 dogs producing 50 puppies weekly.

Lines shares the Alberta SPCA is making no comment on the application right now, which will go before the Vulcan County Municipal Planning Commission today.

Nels Peterson, CAO of Vulcan County, says the application will be reviewed, and at that point the Planning Commission will give a ruling.

He was unable to give specifics if the current charges Marshall faces will impact that decision.

"We can only review if it follows the guidelines under our Land Use Bylaw, there are some other considerations that they can take into affect, and if a permit were to be approved the commission has the ability to condition that permit."

Marshall was not immediately available for comment.

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